Goings on in 2009.

10th August 2009 - The gardens are in full bloom , and we are experiencing large numbers of visitors to the lock , both afloat and on foot. Everyone loves the gardens , and an awful lot of people let us know ! which has a huge 'feel good' factor. All the staff at Teddington try their utmost to keep the site looking good , and providing the best service that we can , being the Agencies flagship site means we have a lot to live up to. Thank you to everyone for your comments and thanks to Ms Gail Doe for taking the photos below on her visit to the lock.

20th June 2009 - The ' Tudor Pull ' arrives. As part of the 500th anniversary celebrations of Henry VIII , a cortege of boats rowed upriver from the Tower of London to Hampton Court Palace , most in period costume. The day was fine and warm and we had a huge turnout at the lock of people watching. Everything went without a hitch , and Henry proceeded upriver.

Henry Arrives !!

Waving to his adoring crowd as he enters the lock !

Packing them in ...

You can get an idea of the crowds in this next picture , look on the bridge over the lock cut as well !!

Henry in the lock.

Going up !

28th May 2009 - The plants arrive !! As always , kindly donated by Squires Garden Centre. This is the day after planting. They have all taken well and we will be looking after them now until probably the end of October , when the first frosts come.

April 2009 - The work on the island is finally finished ! The landscapers have been with us for the best part of 4 weeks. They have laid a path around the perimeter of the island , planted new trees and installed a new shrub bed at the end of the island. The contractors also constructed a new raised bed out of timber which we have planted with lavender in a bid to encourage wildlife onto the island. We have moved the picnic tables from the towpath onto the island as well in order to maximise the seating for people who want to come onto the island and enjoy the views.

March 2009 - In an agreement with the Met Police at Wapping , we now have a police boat stationed full time at Teddington Lock . This will enable the Police to respond to any upriver calls quicker than if they were to travel upriver by boat from Wapping. The Police Boat ' Thames Trainer MP8 ' is more suited to upriver work than the targas or RIBs that they use in central London.

Monday 2nd February 2009 - We had our heaviest snowfall at Teddington Lock for some years. 8 - 10 inches fell overnight.

Henry , our lock heron was still ever present though , on the lookout for his dinner !

Teddington Lifeboat Station gained an extra crew member for a couple of days too !

First week of January 2009 - We saw some very chilly temperatures at Teddington . -8°C was recorded on a few nights with two weeks of sub-zero temperatures. This was enough to freeze the lock cut to a thickness of two inches in some places. The photo below was taken at 0530 on the 8th January 2009. You can see the ice has a thin layer of snow on top.